Earlier this month, a man and his minor son were arrested for sexually abusing a five-year-old girl, who was related to them, over six months. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 51,863 cases were reported under The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act in 2021; of them, 33,348 or 64% were of sexual assault. How do we prevent child abuse? An effective approach would be comprehensive sexuality education, which, according to the United Nations (UN), is a curriculum-based process of teaching and learning about the cognitive, emotional, physical and social aspects of sexuality.
Several State governments and certain sections of society in India have adopted an ostrich-like approach to comprehensive sexuality education. Claiming that it sexualises children, they have either watered down the existing programmes or withdrawn them on the grounds that they violate “Indian values”. Traditional values are often shaped by patriarchal and hierarchical social structures. Mass media often propagates such values. All this negatively affects young adults of all genders.
